Letter 438: If I desired only a small thing from your letters, I would have tried once, and failing, stopped immediately.
If I desired only a small thing from your letters, I would have tried once, and failing, stopped immediately. But the reports that reach me keep getting better than the last, and this kindles my longing all the more.
So let this too be among your fine qualities: not to begrudge me your letters. For it would be strange to help people by your actions while being reluctant to delight them with your words.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Εὐσεβίῳ.
Εἰ μὲν μικροῦ του ἐπεθύμουν σῶν γραμμάτων, ἐγχειρή-
σας ἄν, εἶτα οὐ τυχὼν εὐθὺς ἐπεπαύμην· νῦν δὲ ἀεὶ τὰ δεύ-
τερα τῶν προτέρων ἀμείνω διὰ τῆς φήμης σπείρεται καὶ
τὸν πόθον ἡμῖν τοῦτο ἐγείρει.
ἔστω οὖν καὶ τοῦτο τῶν σῶν
καλῶν τὸ μὴ φθονεῖν γραμμάτων. καὶ γὰρ ἄτοπον ἔργῳ μὲν
ὠφελεῖν, λόγῳ δὲ εὐφραίνειν ὀκνεῖν.
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